Akuanism

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Akuanism is a religion which originated in Nystatiszna and in Central Borea. Scholars sometimes call its practitioners Akuanist, although adherents rarely use that term themselves preferring to calling themselves cultists or member of the cult of Akua. There is no central authority in control of Akuanism and much diversity exists among practitioners.

Akuanism
Belief	Pantheism ; Animism
Deity	Akua; Freyrmama; numerous spirits
Region(s)	Borea;
Founded	Enters into the historical record in 4th century BCE; with possible roots dating back to the 1nd millennium BCE
Origin	Borean Cultural Traditions;
Denominations	Akuanism

Akuanism is polytheistic and revolves around the worship of Akua the spirit or Goddess that watches over intelligence life and inhabits taverns. Spirits in Akuainst tradition are supernatural entities believed to inhabit all things. The link between the Spirits and the natural world has led to Akuanism being considered animistic and pantheistic. The latter are staffed by priests, known as brewmasters, who oversee offerings of food and beer or ale to cultists. This is done to cultivate harmony between the cultist and Akua and to solicit the Akua's blessing, as Akua loves her temples to be more akin to a Tavern or a community center than a traditional religious building. Other common rituals include drunkard revelry, rites of passage, celebratory debauchery and seasonal festivals.

This isn't to say that Akua is solo worshiped in Akuanism. As a majority of shrines are for other spirits than Akua. These shrines of other spirits to be supplied religious paraphernalia such as amulets, coins, incense and prayer sheets to earn favor or give respects the spirit. Akua does acknowledge the exist of other gods/goddess but refuses to name them, as she is a petty goddess. Akuanism does not emphasize specific moral codes although it places a major conceptual focus on family/friendships and community, largely by practices such as bar craws and "adventuring."

Akuanism has doesn't have an official specific doctrinal book rather it has a collection of stories and myths, with a widely diverse range of local and regional forms with their own myths.

During the Naylorbrookisza control of the Nystatiszna (1900 to 1944), Nystatiszna's nationalist leadership attempted to separate Akuanism from other religions that it syncretism.

Beliefs

Vodkaniate

Akua

Akua is considered to be above all other spirits and consider to be the primary goddess that "protects" sapient life. While it's known that there are other gods or goddess that protect intelligence life, Akuanism by tradition has leave these names are not allowed to be said allowed in Akua's temples. The goddess is known to be extremely petty to those who attempt to take attention away from her in her "holy" places.

Freyrmama

Freyrmama is a goddess in Akuanist belief she is the "Urth Mother" and a fertility goddess who presides over planting and harvesting, embodies the mountain range in the Yasteria peninsula. She is also an ever-present and independent deity from Akua and Borean spirits. She known to cause Urthquakes when proper respects are not given toward her shrines or when enough water haven't been sacrificed to her. In Akuan stories she's often seen as a caring, loving friend to Akua who allows her rest in her domain during the Goddess travels around the Urth.

Brandisen

Spirits

Spirits are anything to-do with supernatural creatures or phenomena that are venerated in Akuanism. Spirits can be elements of a landscape, forces of nature, and supernatural creatures. It's also widely considered that if a person has done a great enough deed they can become a spirit known as a Saint.

In Akuanist Tradition, spirits are not separate from nature, but are apart of nature itself, with each spirit with its own good and evil characteristics.

Concepts

Harmony

Cult of Akua has deep sentiments maintaining a warm welcoming cultural and a peaceful co-existent with all sapient things. Harmony is often used as a catch-all term for these sentiments or believes, the act of Harmony is often assorted being a charity, warmth within the home, satisfaction of one's state of life and family, both by blood and by friendship. Many of the Akuanist stories are about creating harmony in personal and community life. Often featuring monstrous creatures such as goblins or otherworldly beings as a greedy entities that attack the harmony and love of Akua she provides. Heroes of these tales using follow a trend of heroes being reborn after a life being spent worthlessly or NEETdom.

Debauchery (belief)

Debauchery in the eyes of Akua is defined as the act of communal life centered around of life pleasures, usually a tavern in a majority of cases. Taverns playing a special role in Akuanist stories, usually being one of center locations for the heroes/heroines.

Practice

Shrines to other spirits

Spirit of Borea

The Spirit of Borea (Norgesvelden: Fyllikenhenneskrasjlander, Nys'tat'en: ?) is considered to be a natural/nature spirit which represents of Borea and has one of the most holy shrines dedicated to them her. Widely considered to be one of the most important of spirits, having aiding Akua directly numinous times and having befriended the Goddess. Her shrine is a extremely closely guarded secret, only allowing three people know it's location at any time the Brewmaster of the shrine, head of the royal house of Nystatiszna and their personal Brewmaster. It's one of the few shrines that acts purely as a religious structure, not acting as a soup kitchen nor a hostel for the poor. The shrine is only visited on special occasions such as coronations, childbirth or adoption rituals and in incidents of great important that require the Spirit to assist directly with. Such as during natural disasters, famines and plagues.

During the coronation ritual, the shrine which the spirit inhabitants is transferred into the Emperor/Empress who grants the shrine holder wisdom and authority to rule their (the spirit of Borea's) body/land in their name. Provided the Emperor/Empress is a good humored, a hero/heroine of highest caliber and kept a holy life from now on. This means the Emperor/Empress is acting as a host for the Spirit of Borea, making them into a living shrine and authority to rule unquestionable among the most devote Akuanists.

Holidays

Akuanism has several religious holidays majority of them are only celebrated locally. However Naylorbrookisza in early 1930s promoted dozen holidays that she believed best respect Akua and promoted her values. She also adapted some of the more non-religious cultural custom in Borea, such as Midwinter.

A young girl celebrating her victory in a recent pose off contest

Slay Day

Slay day is held every Barmun the 4th, is celebrates a battle between Akua and Demonlord where Akua without any help from anyone and totally alone. Blew up the Demonlord with a single blast of her mighty explosive staff. The tradition involves the participants wearing a long red tunic, long black pointy hat and a homemade explosive staff using a wooden crook with a red ball hanging in the middle of the hook. The followers bring a small wooden toy that in the likeness of the Demonlord and fireworks. Then the holiday festive begin with by putting all the toys in the large pile tied to the fireworks before setting them off in one giant explosion. However several cities have passed bans on using fireworks due to safety concerns, favoring to dig a pit outside of town to the throw the toy into the hole before setting the pit on fire. During the event drinks of a light ales will be handed out along with cornbread and small bits of roasted meat. The holiday is often a all day event with several contests such as cooking, best costume and dramatic pose off.

Midwinter

Midwinter is a 10 day long festival in which cultists cook various lavish dishes and drink their finest alcohol stock with their neighbor. It was roots in Western Borean customs but Naylorbrookisza decided to adopt this custom as part of her attempt to unify the Akuan faith. It's held after the end of very Earlymun and lasts for ten days before Yearmun starts.

Shrine Architecture

Plan of a Akuanist Shrine

The following is a diagram illustrating the most important elements of a Akua shrine:

1. Wooden gate, usually with the religious carvings.
2. Stone stairs, very rarely included in any shrine. Often preferring to use a ramp or another form of movability.
3. Helligsti– the approach to the shrine
4. Bønnebrett – Small building reserved for placing of prayer sheets.
5. Lanterne– decorative stone lanterns
6. Kontor – Shrine's administrative office and storage.
7. Helligdomstempel– Where the brewing liquor and food is prepared then handed out to followers. Acts as the worship building for Akua and only her name is allowed to be stated within these halls.
8. Helligsti – A secondary Helligsti, reserved for more serious matters.
9. Naturånd – small auxiliary shrines, for reserved for minor spirits in the area.
10. Vøktere – Guardians of the shrine, usually statues of dogs or guards.
11. Husavann– A large building reserved for rituals and special dances. Off-limits to the public outside of those occasions
12. Gjerde – fence surrounding the åndehus
13. Åndehus – main hall, enshrining a major spirit of the area. It's forbidden to bring up Akua name in these places, due to her petty nature. Off limits to the public and reserved for priestess/priests entry only. As to not accidently offend the spirit of the shrine.

History

Syncretism with Asatru

When Asatru was introduced from viking traders from Eyjarian in the early 700s AD. Early Akuanist scholars theorized that both religions are true and the gods referenced by Akua are the same ones the Asatru worship. They theorizing that where Akua was more involved in Borea, the gods referred in the Asatru hold domain else where. It should be noted, that these early theologians never traveled to Concord and thus never visited a real Asatru temple. Relaying on stories brought by merchants and traveling priests to help fill the narrative they was trying to understand. The regionalized and highly diverse nature of Akuanism interacted in several ways.

Shrines (non-Akuan) along the southern western coast included religious imagery of Asatru origin. Example including Gammeltre shrine which has a curved imagine of Thor into it's largest branch and still has prayer sheets offered only in Eyjarian. It should be noted that the language in the prayer sheets have not updated to modern Eyjarian language customs.

Shines (both Akua and non-Akuan) make use of extensive use of Asatru symbolism.

Shines (of Akua) have select prayers that are still held in old Eyjarian, these prayers are only held twice a year and considered to be some of the more archaic in nature.

Akua vs Science

Evolution

Evolution for the like of a better word is considered to be a form of light heresy or a deliberate insult to a Akuanists belief system. Many cultists firmly believe in the many stories about Akua's creation of the first Urthians, often citing the similar story.

Akua grew bored of her harem and wine, her desire to create exotic tastes. Her desires lead her to an alchemist lab where she made vodka from potatoes and with corn she made the first moonshine bottle. She tasted her works and slept, the thinking machine carried her to her resting spot. Her drunkard ramblings told the thinking machines to create her a harem. The thinking machines spent much time in the alchemist labs while Akua rested fulfilling her drunk desires. Creating the first Urthians.

Vaccines

Much discussion in the late 1990s' by the brewmasters and scholar with many of them taking harsh lines on either side of the debate citing several stories at each other. A consensus was finally reached after brewmaster of Melkvernby Mathias Kinn made the argument that a particular story wasn't literal but metaphor for vaccines themselves brought forth by Akua's wisdom. Which put a end to the discussion in late 2002.

When several members of Akua's gathering fallen ill to the wicked ways of the heat, their bodies turning into a stone as their spirits went to tavern beyond us. Akua tears for her lost children filled lakes all of Borea, flooding a green suited man's home. When the green suit man cried out to Akua demanding why the great Goddess flooded his home with her tears, she could only point towards the graves of her lost. The green suit man understood, death comes for all mortals bodies but our spirits are eternal. The lost of one mortal body is always great lost on one's community, Akua plead with the green suited man for his assistance. So the green suit man labored for several days and nights while Akua wept before finally returning to the great one. He had tiny magical spears that when poked into one's skin it prevent the heat-rot from taking their lives. Thus Akua no-longer wept for her children's fate for as long the had tiny spears. They could be defend against the evilness of heat rot.

Holy Book of Akua (WIP)

In the beginning the land laid bare, hopeless and sober. Thy Akua flew down on a lighting bolt, to breathe life into the empty world. Wielding knowledge of thy heavens Akua made heaven on Urth, with thinking machines that did all the labors and a kegs of wine that never empty. Akua had hair that was as blue as the sea and flowed like a river down to her waist. Her gaze is the same as an iceberg.

Akua grew bored of her harem and wine, her desire to create exotic tastes. Her desires lead her to an alchemist lab where she made vodka from potatoes and with corn she made the first moonshine bottle. She tasted her works and slept, the thinking machine carried her to her resting spot. Her drunkard ramblings told the thinking machines to create her a harem. The thinking machines spent much time in the alchemist labs while Akua rested fulfilling her drunk desires. Creating the first Urthians.